Serving Southeastern Alberta residents in partnership with member municipalities, their public libraries, and school systems’ libraries:

Bassano, Bow Island, Brooks, County of Forty Mile, County of Newell, Cypress County, Duchess, Foremost, Graham (Ralston), Medicine Hat, Redcliff, Rainier (Alcoma), Rolling Hills, Rosemary,

Tilley, Medicine Hat School District No. 76, and Prairie Rose School Division No. 8

Shortgrass Clippings is published four times annually

SHORTGRASS CLIPPINGS 2375-10th Ave. S.W., Medicine Hat, AB T1A 8G2

Phone(403)529-0550 Fax(403)528-2473 www.shortgrass.ca

Volume XII, Issue II – October, November, December 2011

Front Row (from left): Martin Shields, Yoko Fujimoto, Kathi Herman, Petra Mauerhoff, and John Brocklesby. Back Row (from left): Brent Burton, Tom Rose, Marj James,

Les Pearson, and Dwight Kilpatrick. Absent with Regrets: Jennifer Coombs, Doug Henderson, Anne Marie Philipsen, and Craig Widmer.

Read-alikes for fans of Rita Mae Brown

Brown's readers looking for Southern settings, lots of unusual characters and family conflict will find much to enjoy in the novels by Fannie Flagg. Try Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café as a good starting point.

The Claire Malloy series by Joan Hess should prove popular for its small town setting, clever plots and witty female protagonist. Bookshop owner and amateur sleuth Malloy unravels crimes in the fictional town of Farberville, Arkansas. Start with Strangled Prose.

Like Brown, Marian Babson has an eye for eccentric characters and clever dialog, as well as a strong sense of place (in Babson's case, London, England and surrounding countryside). Readers looking for cat mysteries brimming with humor have a lot to choose from here. A good place to start would be Nine Lives to Murder.

Another set of crime novels that may be of interest are those by Louise Penny. Her Armand Gamache series offers a mix of humor and detection, a strong cast of series characters, and an exploration of social issues. Set in Three Pines, a small village outside Montreal, these books should definitely be read in order, starting with Still Life.

Want more? NoveList has read-alikes for hundreds of well-known authors.

Shortgrass RISE Consultant Position Ends

On December 31st, funding for the Shortgrass RISE Consultant position ends.

After this date, all RISE related tasks (troubleshooting, staff training, scheduling videoconference sessions, and developing videoconference content) will be handled jointly by Anton Chuppin, Manager, Library Technical Services and Assistant Director for Shortgrass and Levi Millington, Shortgrass Systems Administrator.

You may contact Anton by email <anton@shortgrass.ca> or by phone at 403.529.0550 ext 2. Contact Levi at 403.529.0550 ext 3 or by email <levi@shortgrass.ca>.

If your library will be hosting a multi-point videoconference, please give Anton and Levi at least two weeks notice. This will give them time to book the session, test the connection and solve any technical problems.

Dec 14 SLS Christmas Dinner and Social Medicine Hat Golf and Country Club - 6:00 PM

Jan 16 Library Managers’ Meeting Shortgrass Headquarters’ Boardroom - 10:00 AM

Jan 18 Program & Services Committee Meeting Shortgrass Headquarters’ Boardroom - 1:00 PM Finance & Personnel Committee Meeting Shortgrass Headquarters’ Boardroom - 3:00 PM

Feb 15 SLS Board Meeting (Elections) Shortgrass Headquarters’ Boardroom - 1:00 PM

Mar 9-10 Southern Alberta Library Conference - Better Together: the Power of Partnerships Coast Lethbridge Hotel & Conference Centre

Mar 19 Library Managers’ Meeting Shortgrass Headquarters’ Boardroom - 10:00 AM

Mar 21 Program & Services Committee Meeting Shortgrass Headquarters’ Boardroom - 1:00 PM Finance & Personnel Committee Meeting Shortgrass Headquarters’ Boardroom - 3:00 PM

Library quote for this issue

Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and

achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.

- Sidney Sheldon

Shortgrass Officially Welcomes Duchess

An official celebration to mark the historic event of the Duchess and District Public Library (DDPL) joining the Shortgrass Library System took place at the library on October 26th, 2011.

DDPL formally joined Shortgrass on Friday, May 13th, 2011. In doing so, DDPL helped Shortgrass become the first library system in Alberta to be complete! That is to say, that all possible municipalities in the geographic area served by Shortgrass are now all members of the system.

More than 49 residents of Duchess joined with DDPL Board Chair Sandra Peers, Deputy Mayor of Duchess Bruce Snape and Shortgrass CEO Petra Mauerhoff, to celebrate. Shannon Vanderloh, DDPL Manager, excitedly

remarked, “This is the most one-day patron visits DDPL has experienced in more than six years!”

Also on hand for the celebration was local Duchess author, Tom Livingston; he was autographing copies of his book From the Banks of the Red Deer.

Ms. Vanderloh later commented that becoming a member of Shortgrass has been very well received by local residents. “In the September to November 2011 period, Duchess patrons have borrowed 574 items from the Duchess collection. In addition they have borrowed a total of 734 items, from every other Shortgrass member library. These are record usage rates for our library.”

Back Row (from left): Vanessa Plett (Rosemary), Stefanie Schranz (Ralston), Anita Chappell (Tilley), Bonnie Bennett (Bassano), Tracy Weinrauch (Redcliff), Carol Ann Cross-Roen (Medicine Hat), and

Joan Beutler (Foremost). Front Row (from left): Shannon Vanderloh (Duchess), Shannon Vossepoel (Brooks), Shelagh Bailey (Rolling Hills), Susan Andersen (Bow Island), and Sheila Drummond (Medicine Hat).

Absent with Regrets: Johnene Amulung (Rolling Hills), Jennifer Antill (Rainier), Brenda Arnold (Tilley), Hilary Munro (Medicine Hat), Shelley Ross (Medicine Hat), and Annette Ziegler (Medicine Hat).

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